“Yours, &c.,
“Robert Stopford.”
“My dear Admiral,
“September 25, 11 o’clock.
“I shall be back as quick as possible. Depend upon it Ibrahim Pacha will not touch our camp; the worst thing he could do would be to come in contact with us; he will not know of my absence before I return. Steam gives us a great superiority, and we shall keep them moving. I have pointed out to Jochmus what he must do under any circumstances.
“Believe me,
“Yours, &c.,
“Charles Napier.”
At midnight we left Beyrout with the Gorgon and Cyclops, having a battalion of marines, 500 strong, under Captain Morrison, and a Turkish battalion of like force, commanded by Kourschid Aga. My broad pennant was on board the Gorgon, which, by the bye, was quite irregular, as a blue pennant cannot be moved, and any Captain might have objected serving under it, unless appointed to the ship where it was flying. The general printed instructions provided a remedy, by authorizing the Commander-in-Chief to substitute a red pennant, which, however, the Admiral, for reasons of which I am not aware, did not think proper to do.
At daylight next morning, the castles of Sidon, the twin sister of Tyre, the emporium of commerce in days gone by, appeared above the horizon, and the squadron under Captain Berkeley close at hand, anxiously expecting our arrival. Seeing no mountaineers at Damour, we pushed on at once to Sidon, which was summoned, and, on receiving no answer by eleven o’clock, the attack began, the description of which I give in my letter to the Admiral, together with his to the Admiralty: